The Phoenix Initiative
by TheThoughtRepository
Summary: An invasion that led to a massacre, and a kidnapping that led to a death. Magnolia and the entire continent of Ishgar rests in the choices of a single woman, Lucy Heartfilia, as she is suddenly thrown into a raging conflict that has lasted for centuries. Dark magic, necromancy, demons, and many other challenges stand in Lucy's way of bringing back someone she loves dearly.
1. The Invasion

**The Phoenix Initiative**

 **Chapter One:**

 _ **The Invasion**_

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

The war between Ishgar and Alvarez has continued for hundreds of years. Two continents, separated by a small sea, have managed to dominate the history books with their endless feud over the land that neither of them would dare surrender. Over 500 years ago, Emperor Spriggan began his rule over the Alvarez Kingdom, in a time period known as the Age of Occult.

Something was said to spread over Alvarez in those times, something not even the highest officials of the continent knew. Something Emperor Spriggan refused to release. Rumors of what happened during those years grew and spread, but none of the neighboring kingdoms ever found a true source of what really happened beyond their borders.

Some say a celestial being cursed the Alveren people. A god was angered at them for some unknown reason, and decided to punish all those they deemed deserved it. Others say hell was risen in that period. Demons, witches, ghastly beasts, sorcery; all appeared out of thin air to scour over the continent, claiming it as their own. Emperor Spriggan was even said to have been compromised. He was driven to a tipping point of madness where even he was said to practice in the dark arts of magic.

Nothing was proven, but what did come out of these accusations was a hopeful attempt at trying to understand Emperor Spriggan. He developed a sudden, and gruesome hatred for Ishgar, the neighboring kingdom. Then, after an unsuccessful invasion of sorts, declared the war that would be lasting for far longer than any man would have thought, or hoped.

Emperor Spriggan continued his assault, trying numerous times to breach the borders of Ishgar permanently, but all had proven fatal. Some say he was taken under a curse, a relentless spell that made it impossible for him to have enough of anything. He craved everything, power, wealth, bloodlust, the list seemed never-ending.

People still to this day never understood what he was after, or why he hated Ishgar so much. He kept his matters private, as well as his means, yet no one ever doubted him. No one ever questioned his judgment, because he knew then that no one would dare try to. He was loved _infamously_ throughout his lands, even being known as the greatest ruler the world had ever seen.

Time passed though and Emperor Spriggan eventually died, but standing right in his place was an heir to the throne. His family line continued for years, passing down the secrets to his hatred for Ishgar, and those who ruled gladly continued his embark on overthrowing Ishgar. Soon enough, before a ruler could produce a heir to the throne, a fatal disease took his life. Before his expiration though, he entrusted his royal advisers to take over rule of Alvarez in his place, breaking the family line of Emperor Spriggan for good.

The new rulers were just a brutal as the previous ones though. The war raged on, battles and attacks seeming to appear from every corner turned. There was little land where the two continents actually met borders, but some of the worlds most bloodiest battles have taken place there on more than one occasion.

Ishgar was known for their fearless warriors. They were strong and brave and often referred to as the strongest army of all time. Though, The Alveren warriors were just as fierce, and twice as brutal. These warriors often canceled each other out, and is ultimately why neither side has gained dominance over the other in hundreds of years.

Many war hero's have earned their name in Ishgar, being the patriotic kingdom it is, and often become renown for their efforts.

Natsu Dragneel is amongst one of the top soldiers to be heard of, more commonly known as the Salamander of Ishgar. He and few others managed to survive two of the worst battles Alvarez and Ishgar had ever encountered before. Nearly 90% of those who entered did not return from these fights, and sometimes even less when including those lost on the travel back home.

It was a gruesome war. So much hate and passion was instilled into these battles, it came to no surprise the amount of brutality some of these soldiers would inflict on others. The experiences were often traumatizing.

Several of the other warriors that survived made their way back home now, a majority of them living in a town off the coast of Ishgar named Magnolia, near the borders of the country Fiore. It is often referred to as the stronghold of the country; because of the high cliffs that surround the borders, the number of war officials that make a home there, and the fact that along the cliffs are watchtowers armed with archers day and night, it is often a part of Ishgar that is avoided by their enemies.

Other than the intimidating aspects of Magnolia, it is also taken as a safe haven for outsiders and is locally a popular tourist spot, the buildings are strong and is a nice mix between an industrial and agricultural city. Many people with various professions thrive here, including Natsu Dragneel, after both battles had been won.

* * *

"Natsu, have you seen my other boot?"

Said man sat at his kitchen table, curiously shifting through papers and parchments of pictures he didn't understand in the least, and heard a delayed stomp of a single boot come from the bedroom behind him. He looked up to find a pair of hazel eyes in his, smiling absently at the sight of a single leather boot on the woman's foot. She had her dress hiked up and hair drooped all over her eyes, her expression exasperated towards him. She overslept once and now she was completely losing her mind trying to make up the lost time, and Natsu honestly couldn't think of anything funnier than seeing her in this state of disarray.

"Mmhm," he hummed, giving a little shake of his head.

She sighed out heavily, brushing her blonde locks back and spun in circles again to look around. She hesitated on her feet then, doubling back towards the stool next to the fireplace. "Oh!" she said, bending over to pick her shoe out from underneath it, "I found it!"

She held it up victoriously with a giant grin, before shoving it onto her foot and tucking the leggings underneath her dress into them. She composed herself then, looking up and offering a smile to her husband. "Thanks."

He did the same back, nodding her attention to all the books covering their table, "What are ya doing with all of these?"

She came over to him, mumbling a quick apology as she cleaned up her mess, and felt him lean a chin on her shoulder, trying to peek at the drawings in her hand. She pressed them to her chest though, narrowing her eyes at his, "I think the less you know, the better."

Natsu gave her a suspicious smile then, standing up behind her as she kept her glance on him. "C'mon, let me see," he prodded, reaching a hand for her chest, but she spun away from him. He laughed as she hugged the papers tighter, hearing a shrill noise of dismay come from her. He picked her up from behind then, her voice ringing out in a laugh, " _Lucy_ , come on. No secrets remember?"

She settled calmly as he put her down, turning back towards him with a twist of her lips, "Really. It's nothing. It's…stuff from Loke."

Natsu nodded then, realization setting in at what she meant and let her go. Lucy looked over to what he was wanting the kitchen table for and noticed the small box of bait in front of his seat. "Going fishing today?" she asked.

Natsu hummed with a nod, a sudden grin overtaking his face as he lifted up his wooden fishing pole. He saw Lucy walk around to the back door and grab a bag hanging on the coat rack by it, stuffing all her research papers into it. He waited till she looked back to him, showing her his fishing pole, "Want to come?"

She scoffed a laugh at that, throwing her bag over her shoulder, "As much as I would love to sit around and watch _you_ sit around, I actually have things to do today."

Natsu rose an eyebrow at her, lowering the pole slowly and shrugged disappointingly. Lucy sighed out then, stopping on her toes at the bucket placed in front of her feet. She peered at it, filled nearly halfway with water, and glanced up to the drips falling from a crack in their ceiling. "We should get this fixed too, before the storm hits? It's seems kind of dark out west."

Natsu packed up all of his fishing gear, shrugging casually, "Alright. I'll do that when I get back."

Lucy said a quick thank you as she darted back into the bedroom, suddenly in another rush, and Natsu wondered again what exactly would happen if she turned up too late to wherever she was going. He shrugged it off though, throwing his bags over his own shoulder and kicked open the door. "Bye Lucy!"

She peeked her head out of the bedroom and in a flurry came over with a crooked smile. She kissed him briefly, pressing her palms to his cheeks like how she always did, and pulled away again. "See you later."

Natsu headed out into the town then, strolling casually as the sun bore down heavily upon everyone. People were bustling all over, yet still made a kind effort to greet the man as he passed by. He made his way to the outskirts of town, the sound of rushing water filling his ears, and he noticed then the dark clouds that Lucy had mentioned before. He remembered she said that they were coming from the west, but from his sights, it seemed like it was coming from the south as well. He shrugged it off, wanting to hurry and get fishing before he was forced back inside.

He sat, settled on a rock with his feet kicked up and threw his lure into the still waters. He perched his pole up next to his side and sighed out, leaning back to close his eyes. It was calm and quiet around, nothing but the wind crossing over his bare arms in his tunic and the birds chirping kept him from believing he was in bed at home. But, even then, the peace of it all made him fall into a deep slumber.

* * *

Chimes awoke Natsu. He breathed out sleepily, cracking his eyes open to see the darkness that loomed over the seas now hovering right above him. The ringing continued off in the distance, and he froze the second he remembered hearing chimes like those before. Where had he heard them before? Why were they ringing? He didn't even know Magnolia had a bell to ring.

He sat up, focusing deeply on where he had heard such a familiar sound before. He suddenly saw a flashback of himself during his time at war, a familiar bell echoing like the one he heard now as his unit raided an overthrown city. They were invasion bells. _Invasion bells._

Natsu felt a sickening lurch in his stomach as he stood up, his gaze traveling down the pathway that led to Magnolia. He felt dozens of thoughts course through his mind; he didn't understand, who would be able to invade such a protected city? Who would even dare try to overthrow Magnolia? It was _nationally_ know as one of the strongest cities in Ishgar. Was this an actual threat to be taken seriously? Have they breached the borders?

Natsu found himself running through the forest as quick as his feet would take him. He dodged trees and jumped over dead branches that strayed in his path, that pounding in his heart only intensifying as he drew closer towards his city. _What about Lucy?_ He wondered this with another lurch in his stomach.

As the watchtowers of the city appeared within Natsu's sights, he felt his breath shallow as screams filled his ears. Arrows bolted from the watchtowers, but the smoke rising from the distance said that everything was not under control. _They had been breached._

He gasped in breaths, entering the city cautiously as men covered from head to toe in armor marched down the streets with their weapons held high. He recognized that armor. He recognized the formations, the techniques.

 _Alvarez._

"No," he breathed out, a shrill shriek ringing in his ears from behind him. Natsu quickly ducked into a side street, whipping around to look at a massacre happening near the central quarters. Blood stained the streets, bodies lay strewn about like ragdolls, and crying locals littered the spaces right next to them. The Alveren guards loomed above them, strongly and proudly, as their sword blades dripped with the thick blood of the slain. Others pushed back a mob of warriors daring to challenge them, but Natsu saw barely five of them with weapons in their hands. They were unprepared, and drastically outnumbered.

His heart raced in his chest. They were just killing people, _innocent_ people that he had _conversations_ with not even a few hours before. Rage burned in his gut, but so did worry just as much. Lucy was still at home when he left, what if they got her? He had no weapons in the house, she had nothing to defend herself with if they invaded. His breath shallowed at the thought of her laying still in the doorway, the same place he left her that morning.

Before he even realized it, he was off running again. He darted down the streets of Magnolia, the fires burning the houses blazing by him in a flash of red, along with battles of men and women with every passing by. He suddenly swerved down another street, but skidded to a stop at a group of Alveren guards less than a meter from him. They caught sight of him, looking alarmed to say the least, and Natsu spun on his heel to run in the opposite way. He needed a weapon, _badly._

"It's him! Get him!"

More guards suddenly appeared in front of Natsu then and he hissed out in angered frustration. He charged at a single guard then, knocking him off his feet and dropping him to the ground. The sword dropped from his gauntlet and Natsu swiped it up in one swift motion, bouncing back away from the numbers surrounding him.

He held his stance in front of the guards, switching the point of the blade to all who crept closer. A guard charged from his right, his sword aimed pointedly at his neck, but Natsu easily avoided the attack. He kicked his feet from under him, slamming the hilt of his sword into the back of the guards helmet as he fell, and felt his instincts act up in his stomach. He fell to the ground, ducking a swipe of a blade and jumped out of the way of another aimed at his chest. He grabbed the wrist of a guard and shoved him into two others, all three of them falling down, and stumbled back on his own feet.

He had no time to finish these attacks. Natsu reminded himself of where he was going and kept walking back on his feet away from the jumbled mess he made. He couldn't waste time offing them, he just needed to get home. He needed to find Lucy.

Natsu spun on his heel again and darted back towards the way of his home, gripping the hilt of sword tightly. His house came into view down the dirt pathway, and a sickening pressure of panic bubbled up within him. The door was wide open, _kicked open_ , and the inside dark and bare.

He swallowed the dryness in his throat, rushing towards the door. "Lucy!" he yelled, bursting into the house. He heard no reply, only the still silence was heard as an answer, but he didn't fail to notice how everything seemed completely untouched. The place was desolate, abandoned; it made him sick. He searched the house despite, yelling out her name from within every room and came back out to the main room, the silence still being his only answer.

His heart felt heavy. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what this meant. A flurry of thoughts rushed through his brain, and he couldn't seem to answer one of them, much less make any sense of it. Maybe she escaped? She heard the bells and scurried to get out? To find him?

Natsu decided on that idea, knowing that if anything, Lucy knows he could've helped stop this. He cursed himself for not being here, but forced the negative thoughts from clouding his mind. He needed to find her, he needed to find his friends, find out who was here and why. Who was strong enough to breach Magnolia's borders?

Sudden shouts and yells snapped Natsu out of his thoughts, whipping his head towards the open door. An entire army of guards marched towards his way, and he cursed below his breath. There was too many of them, and even then, his experience with a sword was limited. It wasn't typically his preferred weapon, nor the one he used every day in combat before.

"He's in there! Go! Capture him!" a voice barked out.

Natsu ran and jumped over the wooden bench in front of his fireplace and crashed straight through his back door, stumbling straight into a crowd of Alveren guards. He immediately felt himself apprehended, kicks to the back of his knees and harsh snatches to his hair as he fell down. The hilt of someone's sword smashed straight in the back of his head before he could even resist.

Darkness overtook his sight. His vision seemed to fade in and out between realities, a cold shiver coursing through his skin as he felt his muscles fall limp into the hands of his captors. They hoisted him up though, dragging him from his home with his legs trailing behind him. He breathed out curses to the guards, but that was the extent of his abilities at the moment. A raging pain throbbed through his skull, and it took the majority of his energy and focus to even recognize where he was being taken.

Natsu could see it though. He knew, but what Natsu didn't know was why he was being dragged there. Why not just kill him? The guards knew him, they knew what he looked like, where to find him, _why?_ How?

Natsu gazed upon the Kardia Cathedral as he entered it, his senses slowly but surely coming back into him. He caught his footing again, stumbling around in their intense hold and saw dozens of dozens of even more grunts lining the walls on his descend to the main room.

"Let me go! Where are you taking me?" he growled out, tirelessly thrashing around.

"Be quiet! The Lady has ordered your capture, you will show her respect." a gruff voice responded to him, catching his wary glance.

Before Natsu could ask any more questions, his body was being shoved through the main hall doors, flooding open like gates that entered a new land. The guards that restrained him released him daringly, but Natsu soon saw the amount of threats that surrounded him within the grand room, armed and ready, quiet and candid.

"Natsu Dragneel for you, Lady Brandish."

Natsu saw the guards that brought him there bow down before the stage ahead, and he felt no worse churn in his gut than when his eyes fell upon the woman before him.

The podium was no longer there, and in it's place, in the very center of one of Fiore's most ancient and sacred Cathedrals, was a throne she had the audacity to sit upon. Her robe was splayed over the sides and her gown ruthlessly elegant; Natsu knew then that this was no random war general. This was someone else, someone far higher on the scale of Alveren lords than he's ever met before. And nothing settled worse inside him than that thought alone.

"Usually my subjects bow before me when entering my presence," she spoke, lifting her head to him, "But I suppose I can make an exception. Just this once."

Natsu remained silent before her, baring his teeth behind his lips to stifle the burning rage he felt simmer within. Her? This woman who invaded his home and people, dared to call _him_ a subject?

"After all, I am in the presence of a legendary hero." she chuckled, bringing a nail to her lips. She gaze at him with such admiration, it confused the man. "Natsu Dragneel…I have been waiting for this day for too long. I have heard so much about you, you could probably call me a fan of yours if you truly wanted. So brave and valiant, my admiration for you goes beyond words, really."

Natsu finally unclenched his jaw, his curiosity choosing to expose itself more than his anger, "What is it you want? Why are you here?"

Lady Brandish let out a short laugh then, her eyes showing nothing but amusement for his lack of knowledge. "Well, this is the home of Fiore's greatest warriors, is it not? I can't imagine any better place to go than right here. And you, _you_ just might be the person that I am looking for."

Natsu narrowed his eyes at that, his thoughts whirling in a blind rage at the thought of her actually asking for his assistance now. "Spit it out already," he growled.

Lady Brandish seemed shocked by his vulgar words towards her, but said nothing about it. She glanced at the men who pressed towards Natsu, easing them of his disrespect, and sat forward.

"I have a proposal for you." she said, casually, "There is something I need, and I need a brave heart to go out and get it for me. It is very important."

Despite her words, her expression lacked all seriousness. She even seemed to be struggling down a smile at the man, as he scoffed a laugh at her. "You honestly think I would do anything for you? A _favor_ much less? Lady, you're lucky I don't have a sword to your neck right now."

Brandish only seemed amused by his threat, leaning back calmly in her throne. She gave a little tilt of her head, the faded green strands of her hair spilling over her shoulder, and revealing the bright eyes she owned behind the thick bangs that covered them. She offered a weak smirk to the man, and Natsu could see she was thinking of something on a very heavy account.

"You know, the longer you stand there, the more I find myself doubting my own thoughts." she admitted, biting her nail, "Of course, the rumors have you as some god, surviving two of the worlds most bloodiest battles with barely a scratch, but…I wish to know you on a more personal account. Get to see the _real_ Natsu Dragneel, see if he's this outstandingly moral and amazing soldier everyone puts him out to be."

Natsu couldn't tell where she was going with this. What exactly did she want? Was his name really that well known over in Alvarez? Why did she care at all for him?

"You can never trust the rumors," she finally said, a challenging look filling her eyes. "And I am quite curious of your priorities. I mean, you must have won those battles somehow, your way of thinking must be something special. And something special is almost exactly what I need."

"…Shall we test this out?" she asked right after herself, her eyes wide and innocent.

Natsu felt a pit of worry settle in his stomach. Those eyes, they spoke anything but innocence. She was amused, she was speaking of this all like a game. Had she no idea how many people she was hurting outside? There was something about her Natsu couldn't put his finger on.

He watched as Brandish gave a short nod of her head to a guard, the man disappearing behind the back quarters for an agonizing period of time.

"Now!" Brandish laughed, clapping her hands as the doors busted open. "Here are the rules!"

Natsu felt the rest of her words fade out as his eyes landed on the guard from before. Everything turned static. His hand was clamped around an arm, the body attached to it stumbling weakly with a pained moan. He recognized the woman immediately. He recognized the only person in the world who could make his heart thrash out of fear and relief at the same time.

" _Natsu_ ," she spoke.

"Lucy?" he breathed. His voice fell short of an octave at that, his heart utterly _sinking_ at the dried blood that coated her lips, and the two men that were now holding her arms behind her back. They had her to her knees, her clothes rumpled and even torn in some places.

"Who–What are you _doing_ –!"

"Ah ah ah!" Brandish's voice called out, stopping Natsu on his toes. A blade was held up to Lucy's neck at his movements towards her, and he could feel the cold chill that passed through him at their eyes meet. Nothing made him stop faster.

"Let her go. _Now!_ " Natsu barked.

"Not quite yet," she held up a finger to him, a smile teasing her lips, "I still haven't evaluated you yet."

Natsu's glare grew dark as she adjusted herself in her seat, his fist clenched toughly enough to stain his skin white. Brandish took her time to wave forward a servant, a man with long royal robes as well, and let her take a glass filled with red wine off a platter offered to her. She took a small sip and set it back, brushing her robe over the throne again.

"Here are your choices in this matter, Great Salamander of Ishgar," she prodded, a twist in her lips, "Now, I am going to give you a sword. And what you do with that sword, is going to be the difference between life and death for many, many people."

Several men came to surround Natsu then, and he was more than surprised than to see one actually offered to him freely. He took it, not about to pass up a chance for a weapon, and looked back up to the woman with a glare. Whatever she was planning, he didn't like it.

"What do you want?" he seethed, lowly.

Natsu didn't want to run the risk of this anymore. Not only was Lucy here, completely vulnerable to any attack, but so was the rest of the townspeople. His friends were nowhere to be found, and he's sure no outside forces would be coming, or if they've even heard of the invasion yet. For the meantime, it was up to him to stop this madness. And her playing with words and games was not something he was experienced at winning.

"Ah, what do I want…?" she sighed out, blissfully. She brought her palm to her cheek, a sharpening gleam in her eye.

A dimple pierced her cheek at the sickening smile that crossed it. "Well…I want you to kill her."

Natsu doubled back towards the woman, shooting a look straight into her. He felt his heart drop to his stomach. "What?" he breathed.

Lady Brandish moved her gaze towards Lucy, giving a faint nod of her head. "Kill her."

Lucy swallowed thickly at that, a shallow gasp leaving her lips, "No…" she jerked from her hold, "No!"

"I'm not–I wouldn't–how could you think–?" Natsu sputtered over his words, completely overcome at the _thought_ she would have that he would do that to her.

"Well!" Brandish spoke over him, cutting off his babble, "It is either that, or…everyone else."

Natsu watched as her eyes grew empathetic, and that little tilt of her head came back again. His gaze could only crease at it.

"I said I wished to know your priorities Natsu," she reminded, "So, I want to know. Either you kill your love, or you allow me to kill every last human being in this cute little town of yours."

Natsu felt his knees quake. He gripped the sword in his hold, yet despite how many times in his life he has gained unimaginable amounts of courage from doing so, now just wasn't cutting it. He couldn't believe this, he couldn't believe this woman actually _offered_ a proposition such as this, it was _inhumane_. She would honestly, truly, go out and massacre hundreds to thousands of people? Over his single choice? Over if he was able to kill his wife or not?

Natsu's eyes found Lucy's, and as much as he wanted nothing but for this all to be over, he knew it wouldn't be that easy. Natsu raised his sword up to Brandish, a furious glare gleam in his eyes that even she froze at. " _I'll have your head before you lay a hand on anyone._ "

Blade points surrounded Natsu then, guards from all corners of the room approaching him in a matter of seconds. His gaze shifted from every opponent around him, counting them until they reached past a dozen. He kept his glare locked though.

"Natsu don't!" Lucy's voice suddenly reached his ears, catching his glance, "There are too many of them, even for you! Don't do something stupid, _please_."

"–And might I remind you who you stand before," Brandish added, calmly, "Believe me, there are plenty more of them to come, if needed."

Natsu felt frozen in his place. A course of thoughts rushed through his head, but the one that seemed to pain him most was the one he just couldn't stop rethinking. _Kill her. Kill her._

He swallowed at that, shifting the grip in his sword, and looked back to Lucy. She was still on her knees, staring at him with those big eyes he always found himself adoring, but now, he couldn't help but want to look away. They looked so sad, so defeated. So utterly _knowing_ of what he had to do. She knew. She knew what choice he had to make, there was no other way.

"Natsu?" she called out, her voice weakening. He refused to look at her. He kept his eyes locked to the ground, his fist tightened around his sword, and teeth grinding relentlessly.

 _Kill her. Kill her. Kill her._

No. He wouldn't, he _couldn't_. Not her. Anyone but her.

But…he had to. He knew he had to, there was an _army_ surrounding him. And another one straight out the doorway as well. This was his last stop, there was no other way out of this, he had to…he had to.

But why? Why would Brandish want this, why make him suffer like this? They haven't even met before, what made her want to do this? Was this all just some game to her? How could she even _think_ that–

A part in the sea of men made way for Natsu. It opened up straight to his wife, straight to Lucy, and the men that restrained her let her collapse back on her own weight. She watched as Natsu hesitated at even turning towards her. She could feel it from there, how much chaos was exploding inside his mind, how rushed and atrocious everything must be for him. She was scared. Not only for her, but for him as well. She had no idea what would happen to him, what would happen to anyone. Yes, she was very scared.

But she understood.

"Natsu…" she spoke again, and she felt that awful sensation of her throat closing. She couldn't help the tears that swarmed her eyes as he finally raised his, a dark shadow crossing over his expression that she had hoped to never see again in her life. He looked…broken. Lost. Utterly and completely confused and frustrated.

 _"It's okay_ ," she breathed out, a shaky smile managing to cross her lips. Her eyes watered even worse. "It's okay."

He took a step forward.

"I understand, it's what you have to do, right? Everyone…" Lucy took in a deep breath, giving all her heart to not let her voice shatter in her throat, "It's for everyone, okay? Gray, the townspeople, Juvia…it's for them."

He stepped closer, the blade twisting in his hold.

Lucy watched as he came to her, dipping her head up until his feet stopped right in front of her. She licked her bloodied lips, biting down on them to quit the inevitable shaking she felt arising. She couldn't see his eyes. She couldn't see his face. But she knew. She knew what he was thinking.

" _I forgive you._ "

Natsu heard the last words she uttered break in her throat. He positioned the blade on her chest, the point of the metal directly on her heart, and the beating silence that thumped through the room was enough to make any man go mad. His hand shifted the sword, spinning it around and around, his palms sweaty and muscles weak.

Lady Brandish sipped on her wine, watching intently at the notable pause the hero made upon his wife. His hand clenched the hilt of it then, and Lucy's inward gasp was audible, even from where she sat.

A clank sounded through the room. The sword fell. It was dropped.

"I can't."

Natsu's eyes finally met Lucy's, and she felt her heart sag into the deepest pits of her being. Tears streaked down his face, uncontrollably, and Natsu felt his knees just give out. He sunk to the floor in front of Lucy, a tear of her own finally escaping down her cheek at what he had done.

Natsu wrapped his arms around her, pressing his forehead deeply into hers just to escape her look of despair. He shook his head back and forth, over and over and over. "I can't kill you, I _can't_ kill you Lucy, I _won't_. I won't, I–"

Her eyes squeezed shut at that, a whimper leaving her lips at the lives just sacrificed because of this. She embraced him back despite, but the guards behind her held them away from each other. They dragged her arms back behind her back again, but her body felt so numb that she barely even noticed. Her tears blurred her vision and the tingles running through her almost made her vomit.

They just murdered _thousands_ of people.

"I can't kill you," he repeated.

She looked at him through her tears anyways, swallowing the dryness in her throat, and offered him a hollow smile. "It's okay." she nodded, "It's okay."

He shook his head, his eyes refusing to leave hers as he opened his mouth again. Yet nothing came out. Something crossed his face then, and Lucy didn't even realize the look of _fear_ that it was. His eyes shot wide open, bloodshot, and a gasping breath spilling out of his lips as a metal scrape _boomed_ throughout the air. He froze in his spot, his eyes locked on hers, and the ferocious light that always thrived inside him, slowly just drained out of him.

A sword stuck out of his chest, the bloodied tip merely an inch from Lucy's face, before it was ripped straight out of him, a spurt of blood following in its path.

Lucy felt the world _thrash_ to a stop. "NO!"

Everything slowed down as she watched Natsu's body thump to the floor next to her, everything inside her utterly _shattering_ to a million pieces. She felt numb, her skin shivered violently at the absolute stab of _fear_ that pierced through her.

Her heart hammered, she couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. She wanted so desperately for this all to be a dream she could wake from but it _wasn't_. It was real, _this_ was real. And that fear that ate at her had a very good reason for doing so.

A sob came out of her, the sound of it scratching the walls of her throat like claws. Her voice broke into a silent gasp, her arms released down to the cold tile floor. Her eyes blurred, but she managed to scamper over next to him, pressing a palm down on the wound that just _gushed_ blood like a fountain.

It had pierced his heart.

" _No_ ," she sobbed, "No no no no no, _Natsu_ –"

Lucy saw his eyes lidded as they searched the room, his breath shallow and body hollow. His body couldn't even manage to move once he set eyes on her, but he took in deep breath. He coughed it out the next second, blood spitting out from between his lips and falling down his cheeks.

"Stay with me, stay with me, please don't close your eyes!" Lucy begged, cradling him in her arms. "Just look at me okay?"

He didn't say anything. He did as she said though, his foggy eyes staying on her and nothing else. She felt her tears fall to the tip of her nose, dripping off one by one to soak his tunic below. She gasped in a shaky breath, the gleam of a sword catching her gaze before her.

A man cleaned off the blade with a rag, his gaze completely unaffected as he watched the two by his feet. Lucy stared at him, flabbergasted in the least.

It was the servant. The little man that poured wine for a living. _He did this?_

"My, Mard Geer, you didn't have to make him suffer. You could have just decapitated him, give the sweet old lass a break." Brandish nearly laughed, her cheek cupped in her palm.

Lucy barely heard any of this, she kept her gaze back down to Natsu, where every passing second, even more blood escaped between her fingers. She found herself whispering things, words of comfort, words of sorrow, whatever she had crossing through her mind right then. Until she couldn't form words any longer.

Her voice had died out, and, ultimately, so had Natsu. His final breath finally passed through his stained lips, the light… _seeping_ from his eyes. It was gone. Everything that made him who he was, was _gone_.

Natsu Dragneel was dead.

Sobs echoed through the grand hall. Lucy couldn't hold it back any longer, she wailed and wept and _screamed_ at this, her sight completely overtaken by her tears, and her body hollow. She held him, cradled him, but he lied limp in her arms. _He was gone_.

A guard came up behind her then and attempted to pull her off, but she held on. She refused to let him go, to let him lie on the ground and bleed out like some piece of _roadkill_. She _refused_.

Another guard came as well though, and they both managed to capture her arms and drag her off of him. Her chest still wracked with sobs, but she felt it now. She felt it coursing within her, through her veins and blood, that overwhelming pit of _rage_ that wanted to consume her, inside and out.

 _They killed him_. They killed him, Natsu, the only man she had ever loved so undoubtedly before, they _took him away from her._

"Can she get out of here now?" A voice said, "Her crying is giving me a headache."

Lucy's eyes whipped back towards the man who slaughtered her husband. _Mard Geer_. He was simply standing now, rubbing the blood off his sword like it was something tedious laundry bit he did every weekend. He stared at her as he said that, the black pit in his eyes just drowning Lucy in them.

She could not believe this. Any of it. Not even him. They were so _cold_. He felt nothing for what he had done, he felt no _remorse_ or _guilt_ or even seemed _indifferent_ by it. He didn't care at all.

Not one bit. And it was when he smirked, that Lucy just _snapped_.

" _You killed him!_ "

She thrashed her way out from the guards grasp, the burning pit of heat and anger utterly bubbling up out of her like a volcano waiting to erupt. She caught him off guard, landing a single smash of her fist straight into his cheek. He merely stumbled back by it, a look of surprise crossing his features, before his gaze turned dark in a matter of seconds.

She attacked him again, ramming her knees and fists into any place she could hit, but he guarded himself from most he could. His own anger pulsed then, embarrassed that she landed such a good hit on him in front of the Lady, and brought up his own fist.

Mard Geer slapped her, the crude of his knuckles burying deeply in her cheek as she fell to the floor. He growled out as a cry escaped her lips, sending a rough kick into her down form. Lucy cradled her stomach then, groaning out, and pressed her head onto the cool tile of the floor. Another tear slipped from her eyes, her lips shaking with the threat of another sob to come up.

Mard Geer kicked her over, her back falling to the ground now, and pressed his boot flatly on her gut, twisting it roughly into her ribcage. She grasped his foot, stifling a cry from escaping her mouth and saw his fierce eyes pierce right through hers.

"Easy now Mard Geer," Brandish's voice called out, soothingly, "Release her."

With the sound of her voice, Mard Geer immediately let up on Lucy, a coughing fit coming from that movement. He stood back from her, recapturing his spot next to the throne and wiped his lip where Lucy had punched.

Lady Brandish watched as Lucy recomposed herself, stumbling to her feet with a fierce glare of her own. She dared to direct it straight at the Lady, her chest heaving for a breath, but something in her eyes spoke she would never rest.

"That was quite a show." Brandish finally commented, a little twist in her smile, "I have to admit, not how I expected this to go."

Brandish waited for some crude comment, like she did with Natsu, but she was surprised to find the woman kept quiet.

"Usually with this sort of thing, my guards have to drag the widow out of the room, or even escort her out, if she's not too upset by it. You stayed though. You fought. Even against one of my most talented and trusted advisers." she said, almost amused by this, "I can't tell if you're completely stupid, or amazingly brave."

Lucy ground her teeth at the Lady, her glare darkening with every word said to her.

Brandish merely tilted her head at the woman, giving a soft narrow of her eyes. Mard Geer cleared his throat then, "Shall we rid of her now?"

A shiver pulsed through Lucy then, an involuntary flash of fear crossing her eyes. Brandish caught it.

"No." she declared, studying the girl before her, "We'll keep her."

Both Mard Geer and Lucy gazed up to her quickly, "What?"

Brandish let a smirk cross her lips, "I like her." she said, straightening herself up, "She has a heart, a fierce one if jabbed at enough. I think with some more pushing, she could have some true potential. We'll keep her."

Lucy felt what was left of her heart sink into a dark crevasse. More guards came up behind her then, holding her arms behind her back again, and forced her away from Lady Brandish's throne. She breathed out a shallow breath, a tear slipping from her eye again as she stumbled back towards the doors that led down to the basement. To the dungeon.

Lucy's eyes fell on Natsu as she passed by him, her heart thumping a hollow beat. He laid still, his face away from her, and a puddle of blood still seeping out of his gash. She looked away. She couldn't look at him like that any longer. She didn't want to look at anything any longer. Not even herself. She couldn't tell if she should be thankful or distressed that she was kept alive. She couldn't feel anything at the moment.

All that Lucy knew was that she was spared, and that she should be counted _lucky_ that the grand Lady favored her _life_.

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

 _To be continued…_

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

 **Don't worry guys, this is definitely NOT the last we'll be hearing about Natsu.**

 **I am back with a very long story that is completely crazy and I am so excited to share it! Just for warnings for all chapters here on out, there will be some gruesome scenes with detail, and maybe even some sexual themes. I'm not too sure on how explicit that will be, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. :)**

 **I hope you like it! REVIEW OMG**


	2. Intuition

**The Phoenix Initiative**

 **Chapter Two:**

 _ **Intuition**_

.

.

.

Lucy couldn't remember how many days had passed since she was captured. It felt like weeks to her, being trapped in that dungeon for so long. She couldn't tell night from day, time just seemed to pass endlessly and she struggled to have a simple sense of it.

The cells were cold and damp where they kept her, they traveled deep underneath the Kardia Cathedral, ingrained into the rock that made up the streets of Magnolia. They were originally built as tombs for the passing priests over the years, but in the more modern days they were abandoned. These dungeons and cells were built as an alternate holding place for certain criminals found in Magnolia now, particularly those accused of sorcery.

Needless to say, they haven't been used in decades. Lucy could have figured that much out, she was practically breathing in cobwebs and the tangy must of rotting animals that had gotten lost on their scavenge throw the tunnels. Thankfully, her cell was clean from those casualties, but she hardly felt grateful. She didn't know how she felt; if she was overwhelmed by her emotions or completely deprived of them.

She had time to think on it. Even if she wished she didn't, she was stuck there, forced to ponder on everything that ran through her mind. She saw nothing but a black void of darkness, the air felt heavy and bitter, and she wondered yet again if she was dreaming, if she was even alive. Nothing felt real to her, she couldn't see, she couldn't hear anything or feel anything but the hard stone that surrounded her, and the thoughts in her head were too loud. She succumbed to the ruthless pounding of replays in her mind, the visions of Natsu she saw were too real. She hated it, with every fiber of her being.

Lucy felt blinded suddenly. A bright, red light shone in front of her, along with the creak of the door swinging open. Her vision blurred heavily at the light, being deprived of it for so long, and she saw a figure step before her.

"The Lady wishes to see you." a man's voice spoke, grasping under her arm to bring her to her feet.

Lucy's limbs felt numb beneath her. She staggered around, trying to keep her footing, and felt herself be dragged out of the cell and into the light. Another guard holding a candlelit lantern grabbed her other arm, balancing her on her feet, and Lucy felt herself be taken back upstairs to the main hall.

She soaked in all she could along the way, greedily taking in the fresh air and sunlight that came through the windows she passed by. She soon regained the feeling in her legs, enough to walk on her own, but the guards kept their iron grip on her, as if she had any intention of running away from them. The place was still crawling with trained guards and swordsmen, and despite how much Lucy wanted out, she knew better than to go sign her death wish by attempting a foolish trick.

She approached the grand doors that opened up into the main hall, entering soundly as Lady Brandish still sat atop her throne, an anticipating gleam in her eye.

Brandish washed her gaze over Lucy, admittedly intrigued at the pitiful sight since her last visit. Her hair was tangled in unwashed strings of blonde, her skin sleek in a layer of grime, and the bags under her eyes only grew deeper in shades. She seemed fragile. Tired.

Vulnerable.

"I trust you've had enough time to think over my proposal." Brandish spoke, a confident lift in her eyebrow.

Lucy breathed out of her nose, fluster bubbling in the pit of her stomach as a tray of fruit was offered to Brandish. She took a grape, eating it slowly as Lucy kept her eyes on it. She smirked behind her hand; it was obvious she was teasing her, and Lucy wanted nothing but to smack it out from her lips. Her stomach twisted just at the sight of that much food.

She hadn't eaten in days, after all.

Lucy kept herself composed though, forcing her eyes away from the tray and up to Brandish's, a sharp look of defiance piercing through her taunt.

"You can lock me in a cell, tease me, starve me out all you want," Lucy finally spoke, her tone sly, "But the day that I pledge my allegiance to you, is also the day that I am laid to rest in my grave."

Brandish merely seemed amused at this answer; her retorts were always more witty than her husbands. More interesting. Every time she spoke she realized again how much the widow intrigued her.

"Keep dragging me up here time and time again, it does not matter. We both know that this little play of yours will not work." Lucy said, giving a dramatic roll of her eyes.

Brandish narrowed her gaze at the woman. It was true, this wasn't the first time she's had Lucy dragged back up there since her capture. Brandish had promised her (limited) freedom if she pledged her loyalty to Alvarez and herself; she had said it was only a sentence, a simple declaration really, but Lucy refused to. In fact, she almost found it laughable that the dictator who stole her husband away would even think of asking for her pledge.

"You think so?" Brandish implied, giving a little toss of her head. She looked at Lucy in a certain way then, a way that had her on her toes, whether she liked to admit it or not. Her demeanor always seemed so menacing to Lucy, like her entire being was just some act; like she wasn't real. She always had something hidden away, like she had some awful rouse behind every thing she did.

And what an awful rouse did she have planned. Lucy saw this, clearly evident on her face as Brandish challenged her. She seemed confident about this, annoyingly so, yet she knew that she would be the one to dominate this session. She had no doubt.

"Well, what if I told you I could bring Natsu back?" she questioned, in the most, sly, skeevious, _squalid_ of ways.

She craned her neck at Lucy, watching with an amused eye at the shiver that visibly seemed to go through her. Her muscles tensed with a rigid stance, her breath shortening along with that, and the declining crease in her eyes spoke volumes to the Lady before her. Her eyes swarmed with something tragic at the mention of that name, and despite Lucy's constant achievements of keeping her emotions in check while in front of Brandish, she couldn't help but feel everything just crumble inside her.

"Ah, that seems to have caught your attention eh?" Brandish giggled, cutely. "I would be surprised if it did not. Who would not want their dear husband back after–"

"Shut up!" Lucy barked.

Lady Brandish felt her words die out, and a deafening silence pulsed in the room where no one dared to speak. Her gaze fell back down to the widow, and as expected of this as it was, she was still by all means surprised at the daring outburst. She expected tears from the woman, a weak voice, or even a slight eagerness to hear her out, but in Lucy she found none. Instead, she found quite the opposite.

Nothing but rage consumed the woman.

"I cannot believe any human would stoop so low." Lucy seethed, a _burning_ fire in her eyes, "You dare mock me of this? You dare _ridicule_ my pain? After what _you_ did to him, after _you_ –"

" _I suggest you hold your tongue before I cut it out instead._ "

Brandish halted Lucy's haste movements towards her, cutting her off as she had done before. She gave a furious glare to the woman, yet at the same time she simply seemed irritated, as if she just broke a nail. She huffed out then, composing herself, and Lucy wondered with a wild confusion how she was able to overcome her emotions so quickly. She gave the appearance that she was indifferent now, and maybe even a little bored.

"This is not a joke," Brandish finally said, "Believe me, if I wished to make a mockery of you I would have _done_ so in a much more intense fashion."

Lucy felt the rage simmer inside her, and an uneasiness begin to take its place. She calmed herself, staring up to the dictator with a wary eye. She could feel a foreboding feeling that she would not be very pleased as to where this went.

"There is a possible way to bring him back," She continued, and Lucy felt almost sickened by the way she felt inclined to _trust_ her. Like she wasn't just lying to get a rise out of her, in fact, it was obvious she didn't want Lucy to get mad. She seemed _serious_ , which, was a very rare expression that Brandish made a habit of muffling away behind a childish smirk or bored gaze. She lifted her head at this, strengthening her tone in a form of emphasis.

"It is called the Phoenix Initiative." she declared, unable to resist the curl in her lips as she spoke those words, "It is an ancient legend, dating back to over a thousand years ago to when humans were nothing but savages. It grants the user a chance to raise a life, or _lives_ , from the ashes of their death."

Lucy stared at Brandish in the most speechless of ways, thoughts rushing too quickly through her head to make any sense of it. She calmed herself though, narrowing her eyes at the Lady with an certain look of disobedience.

"Life cannot be brought back, what is dead is dead. That is the end of it." she said, her voice faltering to a murmur. She felt a wash of nausea at the thought of Natsu, and no matter how much she wanted to believe he might be able to come back to her, she knew better than to believe there was something on this earth that could perform the actions of God. "This is not a law that can be broken, it is the law of the universe."

Lady Brandish seemed to be waiting for an answer similar to this, and she gave another tilt of her head. She cupped her cheek in her palm and challenged Lucy with a look in her eye.

"Tell me Lucy, do you believe that people are able hold power on par to God?" she asked the widow, fully intending an answer.

Lucy studied the woman, her mind suddenly taking in another onslaught of thoughts. She pondered on that question, honestly curious at to what Brandish meant by that. Powers like a god? To do what? Revive a life? _Create life?_

Lucy suddenly felt a crude, impish smile crawl up on her lips. She nearly laughed even, a crack in her voice, "What? Like… _magic?_ "

Brandish waved a hand, "Magic, sorcery, necromancy, _witchcraft_ , whatever you wish to call it," Brandish sighed out a smile, "Yes."

Lucy really did laugh now, finding the fact that she actually took this woman _seriously_ completely idiotic of her. She should have known better than to be fooled by her, to actually be _curious_ about what she said. All she did was show her that her one bargaining chip was actually _usable_ against her.

"Oh you have _got_ to be kidding me," Lucy sighed out, still effectively laughing at the woman. She calmed herself then, a hand propped up on her hip with a ridiculous grin. Brandish merely seemed to find her amusement amusing, though.

"Ah, I suppose I should have assumed this reaction," Brandish sighed, a bored slump in her shoulder, "You Ishguardians were always clueless with sorcery and know-how."

Lucy was surprised at the confidence she wore about the subject, and she decided to entertain the Lady with a listening gaze to what she had to say, though she kept her doubted demeanor.

"Over 500 years ago, the dark lord of wizardry discovered something that changed history forever." Brandish spoke, a dull lull in her tone. "And while less than half the world did not realize this discovery, it was fought to be kept that way. The people of Alvarez did not want this news to be spread to any more colonies than it had already affected, which, as you can probably tell, decided the borders of Alvarez itself. Those who knew, and those who did not."

Lucy nodded along to this, blandly, and gave an impatient cross of her arms, "What does this have to do Natsu?"

Brandish cracked a smile then, understandably, and sighed out. "I suppose you are not here for a history lesson huh?"

Lucy offered a blatant shake of her head. Brandish nodded as well, shrugging, and smiled cutely.

"The discovery was magic." she spoke, bluntly. She was quick to get to the point now.

Lucy shuffled at this, a crease in her eyebrow and a gleam in her eye.

"It is inside everyone. Every human being." she continued to speak, a poised sparkle in her child-like eyes. "And people do not notice in the slightest, though what has kept it so quiet is the fact that magic cannot simply be used, it has to be activated."

"Activated?" Lucy echoed, failing to keep the utter curiosity from appearing on her face.

Brandish didn't miss the interest she had captured Lucy with, and gave a big, satisfying sigh. "Whether by object or spell or even strong enough emotions sometimes, anyone is able to use it. Though that last one is rarely the case, but that is why the entire matter was muffled way back when. Imagine the entire worlds population realizing the amount of _power_ and destruction they could obtain."

Lucy didn't seem to know how she felt about this. She couldn't tell if she believed it or not–whether this, what she was saying, could actually be a possibility. Everyone in the world being able to obtain magic? From _inside_ them? It didn't make any sense, but…it also did. Brandish had said it confined behind Alvarez's borders–that would explain why there wasn't even a spark of notice about sorcery in Ishgar, other than the false paranoia that only seemed to cause unnecessary drama.

But could the Alveren army truly withhold keeping this secret? A secret that _millions_ of people know? How was that even possible–to have that much control, and for so long? It was astonishing, yet Lucy wondered again if she was actually _believing_ this stuff. She was afraid to say she might be.

"Quite baffling, no?" Brandish mused. She had to admit it was refreshing to watch the wash of conflicting expressions cross the widows face.

"If you say that magic is all destruction, then what is this..legend?" Lucy found herself asking, the words blurting out before she could even register her thoughts.

She looked up to Lady Brandish despite, eager for an answer. Lucy knew she was known to frequently fall captive to those who always offered her new knowledge, she couldn't help herself with her curiosity. It often made her naïve, and the slight chance that this could help bring Natsu back was almost too much for her to comprehend. She knew better than to jump to conclusions, though. She knew better than to trust Brandish like that.

"With destruction, comes resurrection." Brandish explained, "You cannot have one without the other, it's order and chaos, life and death–yin and yang. And resurrection is the epitome of the Phoenix Initiative. It is a very powerful spell that revives life, and I'm sure if you complete this task for me, I will be kind enough to spare a pinch for your dear husband."

Lucy felt a shudder course through her at that. The thought alone of actually… _getting_ Natsu back..it was surreal to her. She had missed him like nothing else in her life, the relentless _longing_ for him was almost unbearable, and most definitely insatiable. She craved him, craved his touch, his laugh, his _presence_. Everything about him, she felt like she couldn't live without.

"I will be more than happy to supply your resources. I have to divulge that this probably will be a difficult task, though try not to take my word for it." a giggle passed through her lips, accompanied with a careless shrug.

Lucy didn't hear most of this, her head was too much in a jumble to actually comprehend what was being said. She didn't understand how any of this could be, her mind was always open to the impossible, but something such as _this_ , on this grand a scale? It was…just… _absurd!_

So why did she feel compelled to believe it?

And what was holding her back from completely submerging herself into this knowledge? She wanted to believe it, that this Phoenix thing was actually true, _that it could actually bring him back_ , but something held her back. Maybe because she knew better. She knew better than to believe there was an entire _continent_ of magic-users hidden away behind mere borders. She knew better than to believe that _Brandish_ actually wanted to _help_ her.

Something was off about all of this, Brandish, and Lucy felt a relentless nudge about it. She just didn't understand what Brandish truly wanted, none of her decisions made any sense. This was the same task she wanted to entrust _Natsu_ , the legendary Salamander _warrior_ , and now she just wanted to toss it into the hands of his jobless housewife?

 _Why her?_

After what she had done, after _murdering_ Natsu for _no good_ reason, the man she _came_ here to see…it was so confusing, it was so _wrong_. Even so, she mentioned herself that this town was _full_ with some of Ishgar's strongest warriors, and not to mention the hundreds of mindless foot soldiers who would probably jump at a chance to do her a favor.

She was planning something, Lucy knew it, she just knew it. She couldn't trust this woman. She left too many parts of the equation out.

"…why me?" Lucy found herself questioning, a challenged gleam on her features. It was obvious she didn't seem convinced of Brandish, she seemed suspicious even, and yet Brandish wasn't worried in the least. Or, at least, she didn't show it.

"There are plenty of strong men here, warriors even, who would love to do this for you with no cost. Especially one of sharing your magic life spell. Why call on me?" Lucy continued, a wary step in her movements. She offered an impish smirk then, towards the Lady, "What? Is it just my lucky day or something? Or are your men just too incompetent to get anything done?"

She huffed out that remark with a side glance to the guards that hovered beside her, yet they remained the same, mindless beings they always were.

"You are doubting my reasonings, hm?" Brandish mused, a perky lift in her lips, "It is okay, you are a smart girl, I could only assume you would at some point. But to be truthful, you are overthinking this quite a bit."

Lucy nearly laughed at that, a scoff of one coming out instead. _Quite_ _the contrary_ , she almost said, but she decided to see what the Lady wanted to say.

"This is your home Lucy, you know the land, the people, the paths and customs, I do not. This is foreign territory to me." she tried to explain, a childish pout in her lips.

She was hiding something.

"Something tells me that you are not here to learn our customs, Brandish. Any strong soldier can achieve this task, what aren't you telling me? I can see the look in your eye, what are you afraid of?" Lucy insisted, raising her voice.

Brandish nearly blew up at that, jumping up to her feet, " _I_ _FEAR NOTHING!_ "

Lucy shuddered at the crack in her voice, rage practically airing off of her like fire. She stepped back hesitantly, but before she could even utter another word Brandish was back in her throne, huffing out her nerves.

"I have had it with this conversation. This is your last chance to take the job or not, or else I will find some other competent man like you say." Brandish sneered, a finger to her temple.

Lucy hesitated at answering that, a crease in her expression. One of uncertainty.

"Which do you want Lucy. Get Natsu back, or return back down to your dungeon." Brandish pierced her eyes into the widow, a vicious gleam swimming through her bright irises.

Lucy felt her chest grow heavy. She twiddled her fingers in the ruffles of her torn dress, wondering with heavy thought if she was truly up for this. This was a task made for Natsu, a _warrior_. She wasn't a warrior, she was just…Lucy. What if she couldn't complete it? What if this entire magic theory was all fake, there was no spell that she spoke of, it was all just a sham? Brandish knew _nothing_ of the spell, all she knew was that it was some _legend_ she probably read out of a children's book.

There were too many holes, too many ways Lucy could easily fall and crumble. But…was it really that much worse than rotting in that cell? Alone and cold, starving? Until she begged Brandish to let her out?

She didn't know what to do. She was risking her life in more ways, in more times than she has ever before in her life.

And she didn't know if she had the guts to do it.

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

 _to be continued..._

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

 **Yay, we're getting places! I loved explaining all this little info on the spell and things, I hope you liked it! :)**

 **Review please?**


	3. Plans

**The Phoenix Initiative**

 **Chapter 3:**

 _ **Plans**_

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

It was quiet. Lucy didn't like it. It felt too intimate, too personal. Sunlight poured through the window that sat beside her, tickling her skin in the warm rays that almost comforted her. She stood in the solitude of her home, staring at the leather bag that laid half empty on her bed. She found herself losing more and more motivation to continue her work; something about being back home, being back in the sweet silence she always loved behind these walls just changed her. At least, the silence used to be sweet.

Now it just bore a painful reminder. Natsu had lived in this house before he had even met her, and she always found it funnily ironic how such a loudmouth like him would find solace in a quiet little place like this. She found it endearing, cute even. He was always the one to brighten it up anyways, he was his own noise.

The beating silence felt like a crude mockery to her now. Lucy felt like she was being teased, like there was something tickling her neck, flicking her ear, whispering laughs into it. She shut out those thoughts. They had clouded her ever since she arrived back at her home, they nearly suffocated her, and she couldn't believe that she actually wanted to get out of the place she once called home.

Her real home was long gone, she supposed then. With a sword in his heart.

Lucy had found herself distracted from packing her bag. Among the pile of clothes and supplies she had gathered on her bed, her eyes were frozen on a certain slip of fabric hidden underneath a pillow. She picked it out, slowly, hesitantly, and she recognized it right away as Natsu's tunic. He always wore it around the house, whether when fixing certain cracks or leaks, or simply sleeping next to her, Lucy recognized the pattern of rips and shreds of the cloth he always refused to let her sew up.

The shirt felt flimsy between her fingers, the fabric was thin and worn and it only took a few seconds of fiddling with it before her finger poked out from a hole, but the mere feeling of it sent tingles through her fingers. She remembered the feeling of Natsu's skin underneath this shirt, how many times she would have to shed it off of him in this bed and how many times his head would get caught in the midst of it. It was cheaply made, but he loved it.

Lucy absently brought the cloth to her face, burying her nose in it deeply. She inhaled the familiar scent of him, the rich smoky waves that always seemed to air off of him filling her senses. Her stomach knotted at this longingly, and she felt a sudden sting behind her eyes. She remembered this all to vividly, how distinct he smelled, like how every human did. She couldn't explain it, how he could smell so earthy and sweet at the same time, but she felt her fingers tremble as she fisted the cloth. She took the shirt away from her then, deciding she didn't need to be putting herself through this, and held it in her hands.

Lucy stared at it for a moment before stuffing it in her bag, and continued to pack up her own things. She sighed out the last of what she inhaled and cleared her head, remembering to focus on what she had to do.

On what she agreed to do.

She had accepted Brandish's deal on finding The Phoenix Initiative, or whatever it was that she needed to find. She refused to go back to that dungeon, back to the dark oblivion that was her mind and have no way of escaping again. Magnolia was in ruins with Brandish's army, and Lucy had to accept the fact that no one was coming to save them. Her friends were probably either dead or imprisoned, and it was obvious it would take an army of her own to even get past the barricades Brandish had set up around the towns borders.

Lucy had to accept the fact that she was Magnolia's best chance of surviving. The warriors were overthrown easily and she was the only one allowed outside these walls without an arrow in her chest. She couldn't pass up this chance to get the upper hand. Even if it might cost her life.

Lucy grabbed her leather bag and left to go meet with Brandish one last time before she set off. She only got as far as her front door though, before it was thrown open in her face with an impatient knock. She stumbled back a step, startled, and her eyes immediately fell on Mard Geer standing with a stone cold gaze.

Lucy felt an wave of disgust wash over her at the sight of him, an obvious flash of hatred crossing her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, bitterly. She shoved her way past him, refusing to even make eye contact with the man that murdered her husband. She threw on the last strap of her bag as she continued her walk, and heard his slow footsteps trace her path.

"For some reason or another, Lady Brandish is entrusting you with this mission. Unfortunately to say though," he grabbed Lucy's arm roughly, forcing her eyes to his, " _I don't have that much confidence in you._ "

Lucy gritted her teeth, yanking her arm back as he stepped in closer to her. "I will not lose this chance to master this spell and neither will the Lady. We both know that this type of task is far out of your area of expertise, not that you even have one other than crying and shouting. Back down now and save everyone from your failure, I will _not_ let the Lady be vulnerable to your disappointment."

Lucy couldn't help but feel like she wanted to explode. She couldn't believe he would just come out and say those things to her, yet she should've known better than to believe that he would've just trusted her to do this mission. And she couldn't deny that he might be right.

 _He might be right._ But it didn't mean she couldn't do it, it didn't mean she couldn't _try_. Mard Geer was doing this purely for himself, he didn't care about her or Brandish, he just wanted this spell and was too scared to do it himself. Which, was pathetically ironic, considering he killed her husband in an attempt to prove his bravery.

Lucy kept her lips pressed tightly together, and something gleamed in her eye that exposed she knew his words were true. She sighed out of her nose despite, quieting her voice darkly.

"Touch me again and I'll end you."

With that, she turned again and continued down the dirt path. Lucy didn't feel right about that, the words tasted bitter on her tongue, but she refused to turn back. If anyone here deserved to die, it _would_ be him. She had no idea if it would be her hand to hold the sword that would inevitably go through him, though she knew one thing: if it came down to her, and her alone, she wouldn't regret it.

* * *

The air still smelled of the storm that passed the day before. The streets were still darkened by the recently fallen rain and the dirt still sunk beneath Lucy's boots as she crossed her way towards the entrance of town. She saw up ahead a long line of soldiers waiting for her arrival. She passed by them warily, discomforted by how lifeless their eyes seemed to be. Brandish stood a few feet away from her then, and it was strange to see her anywhere else other than her throne.

"Have you everything you need?" she asked.

Lucy nodded, trying to hide the grim clouds she felt hanging above her. Lady Brandish either didn't notice or didn't care. She stepped out from Lucy's path then, and opened up her view towards the gate that led out of the town.

"Right well, on your way then." she waved her forward, an excited, child-like smile curled on her lips.

Lucy continued on and stepped out of the gates onto the dirt road that led towards one of the larger cities. She glanced back to Brandish and her army staring at her, catching the mischievous glint that swam through her eyes.

"Oh, and don't worry about spreading the news about Magnolia's fall. It's already been done." She spoke up, with a tilt of her head, "You get me that spell though, and you won't have to worry about me ever again. Magnolia and your husband, will be yours again."

Lucy's heart thumped heavily. She left without another word or gesture, the cold eyes of Mard Geer that sat behind the Lady were enough to get her going out of there as quickly as she could. She felt like she just needed to go, get on with this task and finish it. Quick and simple. She had wondered for hours after she agreed to Brandish's offer about how she would even complete this. She hadn't a simple clue where to even start with this. She was looking for a spell in a magicless country, it was like the equivalent to looking for a non-existent needle in a haystack.

Lucy knew one thing for sure though, and that was if she were looking for something secretive, the place to go would the Balsam Library. It was the most extravagant of all libraries in Fiore, as Balsam had a reputation for such things, though it was also very sensitive to their visitors. Some of the worlds oldest books and documents were kept there, and Lucy bet that they kept some sort of information about sorcery hidden away in there.

She knew little about if the library truly did hold those things, though as she realized this was her only lead, she decided to head there nonetheless. She remembered she had an old friend that lived there as well, back when she used to travel the country and all the tiny towns of Fiore. She hoped her friend still lived there, last she heard of her she was a mere greetings person for Balsam Library. Lucy hoped over the amount of time she was gone, her clearance level might have upgraded, if needed. She doubted they would let just anyone enter and learn about sorcery, if it were even real.

Lucy estimated it was about a three day trip to walk to Balsam. She did so the first day, the long and winding dirt paths that connected each town were quiet and quaint, and she even managed to find an inn to stay overnight. Brandish had supplied her with enough money, though where she had gotten so much Ishguardian currency, she will never know.

Lucy took this time to ponder over how she planned to handle this. She couldn't help but doubt everything Brandish had told her. She couldn't believe that there was an entire continent of people hiding away magic from the rest of the world, it was too outrageous. She felt so conflicted about her beliefs. When she was a girl she wanted to believe in magic, but now it just seemed surreal to even consider the possibility.

If the spell were fake, why would Brandish just send her off with this crazy idea then? Lucy wondered if she was just cast out on a wild goose chase, just something to keep her busy while Brandish planned something else behind her back.

But, that didn't make sense. If she wanted her gone, she could have locked her up, or even killed her. It wasn't like she was a threat, Lucy knew this, she was just a pawn apart of a despicable scheme.

Lucy wondered if she should be the threat no one took her for. She was free, she could go anywhere and get help, get an _army_ to take back Magnolia. There was no trusting Brandish's word, no one knew what she would do once she got what she wanted. Lucy didn't know if that was the best plan either. She was on a deadline, as told by Brandish after she accepted her deal, and if this were true…she could have Natsu back.

Lucy couldn't imagine the feeling she would have if Natsu came back. Everything would change, she just knew it. She would be able to win this battle if she had him by her side again. Maybe she could plan this out accordingly. Do both strategies at the same time.

Lucy doubted magic, but she would never risk the chance of passing by an opportunity to bring her husband back. She would get the Phoenix Initiative and defeat Brandish. When she got Natsu back, then that's when things would finally turn up. She didn't have any expertise when it came to war, Natsu did. With him, they could change the tide.

Lucy found a nice man in the morning taking cargo towards a town near Balsam. She rode with him until they split their separate ways, and she arrived around mid-day. The town was quite serene. It was a hotspot for travelers considering the natural hotsprings that were open for the public. The setting was flourished with foliage and greenery, being settled on the edge of a rather dreary swamp that surrounded it.

She continued her trek and found the building, surprised at how luxurious the place was compared to the last time she saw it. A grand set of stairs led up to giant doors with guards posted outside, and that unusual scene was something that concerned her. She came up to the doors and carefully opened it, being exposed to an entire section lined with even more men, and a counter that stopped in the middle of the pathway towards the library.

Lucy approached the counter warily, a tiny old maiden perched atop a seat with a nasty frown on her lips.

"How do I enter the library?" Lucy asked, curiously.

"Identification?" the maiden droned, reading a thick book in her hand.

Her eyes gleamed confusion, "Sorry?"

The lady sighed and slapped the book shut, giving an irritated glare to the widow. "You need a Royal Guard identification pass to enter the library. If you are not a noblewoman, leave. There is nothing for you here."

"You wish not to leave? Fine. I can just call those guards and have you thrown out instead. Please, do not cause a scene." the maiden spoke over Lucy, before a single word could come from her mouth.

Lucy watched as she motioned towards at least seven strong guards lined against the walls, them all turning to look at her warily. She feared this.

"I just need to search for a book, please–"

"Guards!" The maiden yelled, looking back to her book at hand.

Lucy's heart jumped as all those men came at her, stumbling back on her feet. She held up her hands though, panic bubbling up and through her. "Wait!"

They slowed, but didn't stop until Lucy backed up into the corner, "Wait! Please! I will leave okay?"

They halted at this, surrounding her and she stared at them intensely, irritation flooding her eyes. She sighed out of her nose then and parted her way through the sea of soldiers, leaving peacefully.

Lucy couldn't help but feel lost as she was locked outside the doors. She felt a headache coming as she realized she probably had to do something she much rather _not_ do. She had to find another way in. And not get caught.

She could only imagine what would happen if she were.

* * *

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

 **to be continued...**

* * *

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

 **short and sweet, basically just a chapter to set the stage for the upcoming chapters. sorry for the super long wait!**


	4. Adrenaline

**The Phoenix Initiative**

 **Chapter 4:**

 ** _Adrenaline_**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

This went against most of what Lucy believed, but she forced herself not to dwell on it. After considering numerous theories to finding her way into the library, she had successfully found the weak spot she needed. There was an old door crammed between the neighboring building, supposedly used for a close exit in case of an emergency.

Upon further inspection, Lucy could see that it was left unguarded, and wide open for her. It was practically a beacon calling out for her. She sneaked up, her paranoia high as she did so, and tried to open the heavy door. It was held together by metal though, rusted shut, and a great big lock hanging off the handle. It didn't budge an inch when she tried shoving it.

Lucy held back a frustrated sigh. She peered down to her feet and picked up a large stone, lugging it over her shoulder to smash down on the lock. She panicked at the loud ' _clang!_ ' it made and hurried to crush it open. With another hit or two, the lock fell off and she kicked away the evidence. Tugging on the old door harshly, it finally flung open and she scurried in, her fingers trembling. She closed it quietly and glanced around to the eerie silence that now enveloped her. She was stunned to a silence of her own though.

Giant, magnificent walls of books surrounded both her sides like a long, endless tunnel. The ceiling seemed to reach the sky, and Lucy suddenly seemed very small by comparison of the place. She began walking, half her sights in awe of her surroundings and half looking out for any more guards that might be patrolling around. She went down what seemed like a maze of bookshelves and display cases and checked the old spines of the books for anything relevant or helpful. Nothing she found was though, and as much as she admired the collection, anything that didn't mention sorcery was useless to her.

Lucy did have a plan. Although she was rejected allowance into the sections that she wished, she did know someone who wouldn't be. Sneaking in such a highly guarded place like this would have been idiotic if she didn't have a clue where to go inside. Before everything that had happened, before she had even met Natsu, Lucy stayed in this town for a while. She met someone here as well, a friend, and last she knew of her whereabouts, she was working for this particular library as a book keeper. Though her clearance was low the last time they had spoken, Lucy heavily hoped that she might have been promoted in the time she had been away.

Lucy stealthily made her way through the grand halls, peering around every corner and turn, and headed towards the more historic side of the library. If she knew one thing, it was that her friend loved anything ancient.

Making her way, a sudden blue blur stopped Lucy on her toes. She recoiled, and felt her heart jump up in a sudden sense of nostalgia. A tiny woman sat before Lucy at a large desk, her face buried in her arms with her eyes glued to a book. It was almost exactly how Lucy remembered her. Her wild blue hair was enough to showcase her fiery spirit, despite how small her figure was. She was a good friend to the widow.

Lucy walked over calmly, trying to seem casual. "Levy?"

The woman looked up from her book, her eyes growing wide at the sight of her friend. She stood up, nearly speechless. "Lucy?"

Said woman managed a smile to her as she closed the distance between them.

"I didn't know you were allowed clearance back here," she said, surprised, "It feels like I haven't seen you in decades."

"I know," Lucy hugged her friend, pulling away with a relieved sigh. "I am sorry I haven't visited more. Things have been…tense."

Levy grew a solemn pout on her lips, "Everything okay? Last I heard you were off in Magnolia right, with some hunk for a husband~"

Lucy felt a sharp twist in her gut, a cracked laugh escaping her lips. She focused all her efforts at the task at hand though, a sudden and unwanted flash of a bloodbath making it hard to think. She took Levy's hands though, and stared at her friend in a way so she could speak mentally.

"Listen, Levy, I do not have much time," she began, stepping in closer as the smile fell from Levy's lips, "I am not supposed to be here. I know I have no right to ask you this, but I need your help. I need it, Levy."

Levy grew concerned quickly, "What happened?"

Lucy still had yet to decide whether or not to tell the truth. She wanted to keep her entire ordeal under wraps, it would cause an unnecessary disruption and only stir up drama, and Lucy had no time to deal with any of it. She didn't want to go into detail to explain all of the stepping stones that had led up to this moment, and she didn't have the time anyways.

"There is too much to tell, I just need you to trust me."

"Wait," Levy spoke up suddenly, her eyes growing wide, "You _sneaked_ in here Lucy, you could be killed!"

"I know," Lucy heaved a sigh, "But it is important. Listen, is there a restricted section somewhere? Someplace where is probably very off limits?"

" _Yes_ , the entire place, Lu." Levy seethed, pulling her friend away to hide her out of sight. "What do you need a restricted section for?"

Lucy began to say it, but she stopped on her tongue. She pondered if there was a way of saying this without making her sound insane, but given the topic, she already knew there wasn't.

"Magic, Lev," Lucy whispered. She stared into her friends eyes deeply, seriously. "Is there anything on magic here?"

Levy didn't seem to know how to answer. She appeared well over speechless, and even a little flabbergasted. "Magic? You trespassed over royal property to look for some fairy tale?"

"Not a fairy tale," Lucy urged, "I am serious Levy. Sorcery, something about Alvarez or the dark lord. A spell maybe?"

Levy could see the anxiousness that thrived in Lucy's eyes, and she felt unnerved by it. She realized then that her friend was serious about this stuff, and wondered with amazement how she even came to know about any of this.

"I…" Levy hesitated on saying anything. She paused for a moment, thinking deeply. "I am not completely sure, Lucy."

She hated how her friends face seemed to fall.

"But, there might be."

Levy looked around for guards or anyone else, knowing full well she could be beheaded for saying any of this, and stepped in closer to Lucy. "I have…heard rumors. Seen things, in my time working here. There is a part of the library where not even I can go, only the kingdom's most high officials can enter there. They take books and documents sometimes, and I remember distinctly one of the novels a man had been carrying was about as old as time itself. It had something about ancient runes written on the spine, but I could only see from a distance. No one has told me what they keep in there, and I know better than to ask."

"But Lucy," she continued, before a word could be spoken, "How would you know anything about this? Why do you need to go in there?"

Lucy stared at her friend desperately. She didn't know how to respond, and truthfully at that. "I need information on something in there. I have to know if–"

Her body tensed up as a swarm of doubtful thoughts clouded her. She breathed out her nose and calmed herself. After a moment she felt Levy clench her hand, bringing their eyes back up to meet.

"You can't really believe in this stuff Lucy," Levy prodded, meekly, "I know the legends as well, but anyone knows better than to actually fall for them."

Lucy was starting to think she was going insane for doing just that. "I have to see for myself. Can you help me?"

Levy seemed hesitant on answering. She looked at Lucy though, one of her closest friends, and didn't fail to notice how unlike herself she was. She was no longer such a beacon of sunshine as she remembered, she seemed tired and weary in her eyes, and like there was a storm behind those chocolate irises she was hiding. She wondered with so much curiosity about her needs that she could feel it eating her alive, but even Levy knew that this was no place to discuss it.

"Okay," she agreed, taking in a deep breath, "I can get you inside."

* * *

After a long discussion about the guard interval times that Levy had come to memorize, the pair had finally settled on a solid enough plan.

"I can distract him once he comes back, give you some extra time, but it I cannot promise it will be long." Levy whispered, as they both peeked their heads around the only entrance to the restricted quarters. "They will search you if you get caught, so try not to steal anything. I have paper and chalk on me now, so write down what you need and hide it well."

Handing the items to Lucy, the woman gave a thankful smile. They were waiting for the next change in guard staff, anxiously, and Lucy gave a solemn glance to her friend.

"Not if, when I get caught." she corrected, evenly.

"No no, do not be so–"

"I should get caught." Lucy intervened, "The posts take too long to change and the longer I stay in there, the more dangerous it is. The quicker I'm caught, the easier they will go on me."

Levy didn't like the plan, and frowned noticeably.

"Trust me, it is better this way." Lucy soothed, "When that guard comes, I will only have a few minutes. The door will be open, and you can point me out and say I was trying to sneak in. Make it seem like it was a failed attempt. A win for the both of us."

Levy still didn't seem to like it as much, but she quietly agreed as the time for the change in staff happened. The man got word he was relieved of his duties, and left the wooden door openly for the two to take.

"Okay, go!" Levy waved her off, following her trail to the open hall.

Lucy quickly ducked into the room, the door creaking from it's old hinges and saw barely anything. There were no lanterns lit, only a soft stream of sunlight that made it through a window made it bright enough for her to see her own feet. She left the door open a crack, and quietly looked around, nearly coughing at all the dust that laid around.

The room was twice as small as Lucy had imagined. The stone walls were lined with bookshelves again, only they seemed as fragile as they looked. The books looked centuries old, and Lucy was worried to even touch one, in fear she might destroy it unintentionally. She remembered she was on a clock then and hurried to scour the wooden bookshelves, trying to read the old handwritten cursive words scrawled on the spines of books.

She sorely wished she could have more time to look at what this room had to offer. What she found stunned her in many ways. There was an overwhelming amount of ancient legends stashed away here, dead languages were kept, old documents of historical figures were preserved, and not to mention some of the kingdoms classified secrets as well.

Lucy skipped over all of those though, and a wide variety, and stopped at a certain spine. Alvarez: The Inside Truth. She almost picked that one out, but forced her hand past it. The only thing she needed was The Phoenix Initiative. She founds documentaries on more than she imagined, about the sorcery said to come from Alvarez and first-witness accounts on the Dark Lord from centuries ago. She even found a book on the idea of dragons roaming the earth before humans. It pained her to turn away such knowledge.

With a shaking breath, Lucy fell to her knees and looked along the edges of the shelves for anything that had to do with a spell. She was ecstatic to actually find a section that held spellbooks. She scoured it eagerly, and with a skip of her heart, her eyes landed straight on a long, thick book with branded letters on the leather spine. The Phoenix Initiative.

She picked it out hesitantly, an overwhelming sense of curiosity purging through her, and brought it to the wooden table that sat in the midst of the room. With her distance closer to the door now, she distinctly heard Levy laughing from outside, already in a conversation with the new guard.

Panic bubbling inside the woman, Lucy hurriedly cracked it open and flipped through it. She just needed to know how to complete the spell, not anything else about it. The pages were thick and old, but the amazingly detailed drawings inside had Lucy completely engrossed. Beautiful sketching's of a fiery bird decorated nearly every page, showing in detailed processes how a mortal could die in the most gruesome of ways, and yet their soul could still be brought back to life. The history of it Lucy only saw a glance of, something about a powerful being in Ishgar who created this spell to counter destruction, and skipped right by the rest of it to the making of the Initiative. She saw there was more pictures then, her eyes hungrily soaking in the knowledge and scribbled it all down onto the paper Levy gave her.

Lucy flipped til the end of the book and heard Levy struggling to keep the conversation alive, and put it back in it's place carefully. She skipped to the door then, peeking out the crack to see Levy had the guard's back to her. She thanked her mentally and slid out, turning her figure back towards the door.

"Amazing, I know–hey! Who are you?" Levy sputtered out, whirling the guard towards Lucy.

Lucy faked being surprised then, her hand on the closed door's handle and saw the guard stomp straight up to her.

"The security these days," Levy muttered, as the man took Lucy by the arm, "Sir, she's clearly just some tourist looking around aimlessly, escort her out?"

The man glared at Lucy, "She should be brought to the authorities, her crime–"

"Oh please, look at her." Levy waved a careless hand, "She's as dumb as bricks, she cannot even speak. How do you think that will look for you if someone like her managed to get this far? Just take her out back."

Lucy stared at the man warily, trying her best 'clueless' look and glanced to Levy's charade with gratefulness. He mused over what her friend said, and sighed out with a scratch of his neck. "I suppose. Just, keep your mouth shut, got it?"

Levy smiled, "Mmhm."

With that, Lucy was led outside. The man pushed her out roughly, and as Levy suspected, searched her clothes and bag. Coming up with nothing, Lucy was left alone, with the scrap of paper buried deeply in her corset.

* * *

"Did you get it?"

Lucy nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden voice. Standing outside Levy's house until her shift ended had made the woman anxious in her place. She was convinced any guarding official that passed by was coming for her, despite the tracks she so cleverly covered from the library and tried her best to seem inconspicuous.

Lucy whipped towards her friend now as the sun had begun to set in the horizon and mobs of locals made their ways home after a full day of work. She smiled of relief and held up her scribbled notes.

"What I could, hopefully it is enough." she said.

Levy breathed out a smile herself, and turned to open up the door to her home. "You could have made yourself at home, you know." she stated, "You used to live here with me, or have you forgotten all our special memories already?"

Lucy let herself after Levy and chuckled, "I could never forget all those nights I had to sleep next to you, Lev. You kick like a child having a nightmare."

The book keeper pouted at that comment and ignited the fire to make her tea. She said nothing though, knowing well she couldn't deny it and offered Lucy a seat at her kitchen table. "So? Tell me what you got?"

"Right," Lucy eagerly spread out her notes across the wooden space.

Levy came over soon enough with her two tea cups and offered one to her friend, looking curiously over her shoulder at what Lucy had managed to gather.

"I found the section where they explained the requirements for the spell and got down everything I could," she said showing her friend, "The only problem is I have no idea what the hell any of it means. I had no time to write down the explanations, much less read them and try to memorize it."

Lucy was already tired of reading those notes. She had done so over and over trying to understand what in the world half of these 'ingredients' were, but she was officially stumped. It frustrated her, but as she was knocked out of her trance by Levy's movements, she felt a sense of hope begin to bloom inside her.

Levy slowly slid into the seat next to her, her eyes kept solely on the notes Lucy had gathered. She stared at it in such a way that had the widow concerned.

"What are you thinking?" she asked, peeking over her shoulder.

Levy seemed to read the scraps of paper over and over. "We all know the fairy tales Lucy. You know, pixie dust and singing animals, and the worst of it being a simple sleeping curse."

Lucy, noticing her troubled tone, sat down at the kitchen table next to her. They both had pushed away their mugs with disinterest. She was about to speak up about how this wasn't like a fairy tale, as she had voiced before, but something told Lucy that Levy knew very much this fact. Perhaps it was the familiarity that gleamed in her eye.

"Lucy," Levy licked her lips, hesitating in such a way that made the air tense. Suspicion rose in Lucy, one that said that her friend might know more than she let on. "This magic you have here, it is not any of the magic that are known by legends or fantasy. You are dealing with something entirely different."

Lucy was confused. "What do you mean? What are you not telling me, Lev?"

Levy looked guilty, she wasn't trying to hide it. She turned closer to her friend and stared at her with a surprising amount of confidence. A concerning amount.

"This is not any magic Lucy, what you have here? This is dark magic Lucy, _black_ magic." she stated, intensely,

Lucy's head whirled, "W-Wait, you mean there are types? Wh–"

"Black magic is the most dangerous kind Lucy, it's unpredictable and highly risky and–"

"Lev–Lev," Lucy stammered as they stumbled over each other. They both looked at one another. "How do you know this?"

"You are just going to have to trust me Lucy, I promise if I could tell you everything then I would, but I cannot." she insisted, gently. She stood up in dismissal. "I cannot help you."

Lucy felt her hopes shatter a bit. Not even her most trusted friend would help her figure this out? She hated to admit it, but Levy truly was the only real friend she had. Yet, apparently, there were secrets worse enough to keep from each other.

"It is okay," Lucy muttered, feeling like a nuisance suddenly, "You have already helped me enough today, thank you."

She stood up from her seat as well, planning to take her leave, but Levy caught her arm. "I wish I could help, Lucy. Truly. But I cannot."

Lucy nodded, disdainfully, and turned to leave again. She felt another tug on her arm though, but it felt unsure.

"I might…know someone who can, though."

Things grew quiet as Lucy looked behind her. She saw her friend step in closer, as if she were paranoid that someone might be listening in.

"There is said to be someone in the swamps straight out of town. Someone who lives there, and is sure to know more about that spell of yours than I ever could."

Lucy felt her stomach churn in an anxiousness. Yet, hope being the cause of it, had her heart pounding in adrenaline. "Really? In the swamp? Where?"

Levy kept nudging closer, her gaze wary, "West. Straight west, for about a kilometer. But, you have to be careful okay?" she looked worriedly at her friend, unsure.

Lucy nodded obviously, but the grip on her arm had doubt filling her soul.

"I'm serious, Lucy." Levy stared at her, harshly. "Something about that swamp is far from right. Something about that _woman_ is far from right–"

Lucy wondered at that moment if Levy had had enough personal experience to be this concerned.

"She is said to be a dangerous witch, Lucy." Levy admitted, softly. "And that swamp is no walk in the park either, there are things in there that–"she forced herself to cut off her speech, "Let's just say there is a reason we have direct routes in and out of this city, Luce."

The widows stomach still churned, but not in the hopeful way from before. She felt her fingers tingle in an unusual way.

"Okay," she breathed out. She nodded to her friend once more, in a more comforting way that she knew she needed to see, "I will be careful."

Levy went back and gathered up her notes for her. She handed them to Lucy with a solemn smile. "It was good to see you, Lucy."

She smiled back, gently. "Thank for everything. Truly, I cannot repay you enough."

Levy lead her to her front door, and opened it to let her step out. "You can just visit me more often and we can call it even."

They both laughed, and then they hugged.

"Good luck," Levy said.

Lucy waved and left down the road, leaving Levy to her house, and life again. Lucy on the other hand, left west. It was sunset, the sky was casting bright hues of pink and orange, and she wanted to get a move on before the last part of her light was gone. She was sure Levy wouldn't of minded if she had stayed the night, but she figured she had been enough of a burden on her for one day. She had already risked so much, with her job and freedom, she didn't want her friend to have to risk any more.

So, Lucy set out to the Shirelong Swamp, to find the witch that would give her what she needed.

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

 **to be continued...**

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

 **sorry for the humongous wait! Anyways, introducing a distant favorite of mine next chapter, i'm super excited :)**

 **review!**


End file.
